Counting how many there are in total is a difficult task. Children illegally brought to the country, to be part of their parents' adventure.
They are so many and so scattered that it is difficult to know their total. They are in the mountains, the depressions of the forest, plains, narrow roads and stony roads.
Manzanillo, RD
The saddest episode of suffering and danger that surrounds the illegal migratory stream from Haiti falls like a crushing stone on children, the invisible victims of this misfortune.
This cruel and heartbreaking drama caused by the flow of undocumented migrants, in a wide strip of the 381 kilometers of the fragile Dominican-Haitian border, was revealed in a journey that began in Pedernales and culminated in the Masacre river estuary, where This tributary spills its waters into the Manzanillo Bay.
These little guys are seen everywhere on the Dominican side. They are in the mountains, in the depths of the forest, on the plains, narrow paths and highways. Your difficulties are in plain sight. The less shy and fearful extend their hand to eat something or a few coins.
In other cases, they move in the hot sun, hungry, malnourished, panting uphill to reach the fields where their parents cut tree branches to plant crops. Fear takes hold of them when they see a stranger to their families. Some run, hide, disappear into the forest and seek their parents' side.
Some jumped over fences or slipped between the barbed wire fences that surround cultivated areas, some clung to their mothers' tattered dresses, and others crawled behind their tattered fathers, always โchivosโ (goats) on the lookout for people. that was approaching.
These children are brought here to be part of their illegal Haitian parents' adventure to a dark destiny. They can be seen crowded anywhere in the Dominican countryside, in small towns and hamlets, towns with a larger population, in neighborhoods, streets, occupying buildings under construction and uninhabited houses.
A long time ago, they looked this way and set out on their journey, but in recent years, since Dominican governments postponed the border, leaving the path clear for illegal migration, the problem has worsened.
These little ones double their status as victims among the many misfortunes that weigh on them: firstly, the cruelty of their parents when exposing them to this danger, and the complicity of the Dominican authorities who for decades have thrown the law that regulates the country's immigration system.
They left their country with their parents, fleeing the endless conflicts in Haiti and the poverty that oppresses them, hoping to find a better and safer life on this side of the island.
At their age, innocent and defenseless, they have had to face dangers in this adventure of illegal migration and, at times, observe the arrest and hardships of their parents.
In some settlements, many girls prostitute themselves even to eat, and boys sell drugs or steal from their homes.
Many of these migrant children face numerous difficulties along the way and, when they reach their destination, they have to perform forced labor with their families.
In the countryside, according to Listรญn Diario, in some points of the border, mainly in agricultural areas, children are exposed to exploitation. In addition, the crowded conditions in which many of them live make them more vulnerable to infectious diseases.
Immigration laws
Law 285 on Immigration Orders regulates migratory flows in the national territory, both entry, stay and exit.
Article 2 establishes that the presence of foreigners here is regulated "so that everyone has the status of legality, as long as they qualify to enter or remain" here.
For these, he points out, โโฆ the competent authority will issue a document that certifies their condition of belonging to a migratory category defined in this law, the bearing of which will be mandatory. Illegal foreigners will be excluded from the national territory in accordance with the regulations of this law โ.
Article 81 establishes that all means of international transportation of passengers arriving or leaving the country will be subject to immigration control "for the review of the documents required by this law and its regulations for the passengers and crew they transport."
IMMIGRATION
Definition
Illegal immigration is considered to be the migratory movement of people across borders without complying with the legal requirements of the country of destination and, sometimes, also of the country of origin.
A person in this situation is an irregular immigrant, an illegal immigrant, an undocumented immigrant, or simply an undocumented person without documents, such as a residence permit or work permit.
For the immigrant, the decision to leave their culture, family and country for an uncertain future is a psychologically difficult decision.
